Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to devices, systems and methods for dental impressions. More specifically, the present invention relates to devices, systems and methods for creating hydraulic pressure formed dental impressions.
Description of the Related Art
Requirements for the fabrication of many types of dental products (e.g., dental trays, orthodontic appliances, crowns, bridges, implants, study models, etc.) can be highly exacting. Therefore, these dental products require highly sophisticated and detailed molding procedures capable of capturing the required detail of the relevant oral structures. Currently used dental impression techniques create predominantly unidirectional vertical pressure and consequently do not consistently capture sufficiently detailed reproductions of certain oral structures. Another problem with these dental impression techniques is that they can allow the formation of bubbles and voids, typically called pulls, on and in the impressions. The presence of such bubbles and pulls in impressions, particularly in critical areas of the oral impressions, renders the impression useless and necessitates that the impression be taken again, thereby increasing, among other things, the required time, materials, patient time, doctor time, and overall cost. Commonly used techniques are particularly ill-adapted to capture slight or highly detailed structures, including but not limited to the small but very sharp crevice at the junction of the teeth and gums, generally known as the gingival crevice.
Accordingly, there is a need for improved devices, systems and methods for creating more detailed dental impressions.